Spring Ridge, MD Personal Injury Lawyer

Getting hurt is not something you really expect to happen when you start your day. Serious injuries can have all sorts of unfortunate consequences. You may not be able to participate in activities you enjoy while you are recovering, paying for treatment can get very expensive, and some injuries may even be permanent, and you will have to deal with them for the rest of your life.

If you were hurt in any way around Spring Ridge, call us. Our lawyers have handled tons of personal injury cases, so we know what it takes to effectively fight and win in court. We will find out who caused your injuries and hold them accountable under the law.

Get a free case review from our team of Frederick, MD personal injury lawyers by calling Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s office at (410) 694-7291.

What Do You Need to Prove in a Spring Ridge, MD Personal Injury Lawsuit

Most people are familiar with criminal cases, where the goal is to prove that the defendant is guilty. In civil cases like personal injury lawsuits, our personal injury lawyers instead are trying to demonstrate that the defendant is “liable” for your injuries. The important difference between finding someone “liable” instead of “guilty” is that liability requires the defendant to compensate you for their actions, while a guilty person will be punished under the law without any compensation coming your way.

To prove that a defendant is liable for your injuries, you must show that they were negligent. You prove that a defendant was negligent by establishing four things: the defendant had a duty, they breached that duty, the breach caused your injuries, and you were actually injured.

The Defendant Had a Duty

In law, a “duty” is an obligation one party has to another. For things like written contracts, duties will be spelled out in print. However, there are also general duties that everyone has. For example, people have to act in a way that is not likely to get anyone else hurt. In other words, they have to act “reasonably.”

The Defendant Breached that Duty

In personal injury cases, “breach” usually occurs when the defendant fails to act reasonably under the circumstances. For example, driving drunk would be both unreasonable because it is dangerous and negligent because it is against the law.

The Defendant Caused Your Injuries

You also need to prove that the defendant caused your injuries. More importantly, you must show that they were the “proximate cause,” a cause closely related to your injuries. For example, if someone speeds past a stoplight and hits you with their car, you can sue them as the proximate cause of your injuries. You would not, however, be able to sue the car dealership that sold them the car, even though technically, but for the dealership selling the defendant the car, they would not have hit you with it.

You were Injured

Finally, you have to prove that you were actually injured. After all, if you were not hurt, there is not much of a reason to go through a costly and time-consuming lawsuit. Injuries can be physical maladies but also things like emotional distress or financial loss, so you do not always need to show pictures of yourself in a cast to demonstrate you were injured.

Damages in Spring Ridge, MD Personal Injury Cases

When you file a personal injury lawsuit, you have to state the reasons you are requesting damages. The most common method of doing this is by categorizing your damages as economic, non-economic, or punitive in nature.

Economic Damages

Economic damages come from things that have an easily displayed monetary value. For example, the cost of replacing a totaled car, medical expenses, and income you did not earn because you could not work while recovering would be considered economic damages.

Non-Economic Damages

On the other hand, non-economic damages arise out of things that may not necessarily have a bill showing their worth. Common things that fall under this category include mental anguish, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. Although you probably will not be able to point to a piece of paper to show the worth of these things, you can still demonstrate their value through photo evidence, personal or eyewitness testimony, and other forms of evidence to support your claims.

Punitive Damages

Economic and non-economic damages are sometimes called “compensatory damages” because they are intended to offset harm done by the defendant. Punitive damages are different. They are meant to punish defendants who have acted especially badly. However, there are some special requirements to be eligible for punitive damages. First, you need to ask for in your initial filings. Second, you must show that the defendant’s conduct goes beyond mere negligence. Not every case will warrant seeking punitive damages, so you should talk about whether it makes sense to go after them in your case with our lawyers.

Calculating Damages in Spring Ridge, MD Personal Injury Cases

In addition to explaining why you are asking for damages, you also have to state how much you are seeking. To do that, you will need to figure out how to quantify the value of your injuries. There is no prescribed method for doing so, but there are some methods that are commonly employed by attorneys.

The Multiplier Method

The multiplier method is often considered the simpler of the two. You just take your economic damages and multiply them by a value that makes sense for your case to determine your non-economic damages. This method is generally used when the plaintiff may not ever fully recover from their injuries, so the damages plaintiffs are awarded can often be substantial.

The Per Diem Method

The other commonly used method is the ”Per Diem,” or “daily” method. Instead of multiplying your economic damages, this method comes up with a “daily pain amount” that represents the effects of dealing with your injuries for one day. Then, you multiply that amount by the number of days you are expected to be dealing with your injuries. The Per Diem method is most often used when plaintiffs are expected to make a full recovery from their injuries at some point in the future.

Our Spring Ridge, MD Personal Injury Lawyers are Ready to Help

Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s personal injury lawyers can be reached at (410) 694-7291 and can give free case reviews.